The FINANCIAL — Universities in Georgia are facing problems in providing students with internships at private companies and governmental organizations. Companies have a limited number of internship programmes, complaining about inexperienced or poorly trained students.
Meanwhile an internship is still obligatory during a student’s final academic semester.
This is the result of the exaggerated number of students and distrust from companies, universities state.
“We have too many students nowadays,” said Manana Gabunia, head of the Department of Employment, Accommodation and Scholarship of Ilia State University. “Of course we can’t find internship places for all of them, as we don’t have so many offers from Georgian companies. The situation was even worse last year. We made offers to companies but they didn’t trust inexperienced students. Now companies are assured that we are sending well-educated and prepared staff to work for them. We have contracts with some companies, e.g Aldagi BCI, Basis Bank and VTB Bank which constantly announce vacancies for our students,” Gabunia said.
Natela Dogonadze, Pro-Rector of International Black Sea University (IBSU) says that every bachelor and master student has to do an internship in the final semester. She admits that they still have students which don’t have any opportunity to find places to do practical training.
“These exceptions are due to the specificity of the fields themselves. For example we have the field Turkish philology – it’s a very abstract field and we simply can’t find internship places for its students in the country,” she complained.
“Let’s talk about Astro Physics. How can its student practice in that field if there is no observatory in the country? So each field of education should be precisely defined before giving accreditation to any university,” Dogonadze believes.
According to Giorgi Khishtovani, Deputy Dean of the Faculty of Business and Economics of TSU, internship is essential for students to accomplish their education. However the internship system need to be more refined in private companies.
“Students get 240 credits during the whole studying process. Only 10 are estimated for practical work. That means that they have short term, maximum 2 month practice which isn’t enough. If the process is improved the students would do the internship throughout the whole semester. It would give them the possibility to get a profound education from the experience. Practical work and internships help them to find relevant workplaces after graduation. The longer the internship lasts, the more skilled and prepared the students will be for the future,” noted Khishtovani.
Not only TSU but also GAU has changed its strategy during the last three years. As Zaza Rukhadze, Dean of the Law School noted, they implemented a new method of schooling because of two reasons: first and very important is that a student learns how to use theoretical knowledge in practice; the second and very significant reason is that students master professional skills and habits.
“It wasn’t hard to choose this method. There is the need for skilled and experienced professionals in the country. Our students don’t work on hypothetical cases. They work for real clients under the supervision of lawyers and professors. This method is successful in America and in many European countries. As we wanted to have highly qualified graduates and had enough resources we also decided to start it,” declared Rukhadze. “The aim of the internship is that the students will be prepared not just for university but for the market as well. If they aren’t competitive enough after graduating, it means they have wasted the years of schooling. Till today our university has had the best results. Almost 95% of our students are employed in different institutions.”
“An internship not only prepares students for future work but also provides them with relevant experience,” stated Manuchar Markoidze, Head of the Career Planning Centre. “In most companies, if they have two well-educated individuals vying for the same position they’ll choose the candidate with intern experience over a new graduate. Experience says you are capable, driven, and ready to get your career started. Students need long term experience in order to assure companies that they are capable of undertaking the offered positions.
“Usually an internship lasts for maximum 6 months. It isn’t a period long enough for a student to fully prepare for the next job. I understand that companies prefer skilled staff. When they announce vacancies, they always ask for minimum one year of experience. In my opinion they should make some exceptions and give more young people the chance to prove themselves,” Dogonadze believes.
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